Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

As stated by Deputy Wall, we have met already with many groups and propose to meet others, all of whom want an opportunity to express their views and to be listened to and involved. This is the purpose of the forum. One of the weaknesses of the peace process was the lack of civic involvement in the negotiations in that regard. I have no doubt that had the negotiations been widened out to include civic society the peace process we would have a much more inclusive process and we would be much further down the road in that regard.

We all accept that the Assembly is not seriously tackling the issues of poverty, equality, inclusivity, housing, welfare reform and so on. Everybody thought the peace process would be a new beginning in that regard. I agree that the greater the involvement of civic society the better. The naysayers will point to the cost factor and say the forum is only a talk shop. However, as elected representatives are elected by their communities they know what issues are important to them. I presume that is the only argument against it. I believe the consensus in this room, and, perhaps, across society, is that the civic forum is a good thing.